in a considerable distance from the usual route. It was supposed, that curiosity had kept him too far behind, or led him to explore some of the avenues, and that his light being extinguished, a return was forever impossible. A party of five English people also were lost here in 1814, and the guide could not find them till after a search of six hours. As the tapers will be extinguished occasionally, the utmost precaution is required, in every stranger to keep close to the guide, and near his companion.

If any particular spot on earth and its surrounding appendages could arrest the attention of the daring infidel and excite serious reflections on his own destiny,if any thing could show him the entire vanity of earth, and awaken in his bosom an anxious solicitude and earnest endeavors to obtain a residence in that "better country" where "there shall be no more death," we might suppose that a visit to the common grave of millions would give him an effectual lesson. Could any exhibition be displayed to the cyes of flesh, which should overwhelm the pride of man, and humble him at the spectacle of his own insignificance,it might surely be found in this promiscuous mass composed of the ruins of so many centuries. Here beauty is unknown; wealth is forgotten, and the most implacable enemies, who would gladly have repelled each other to the extremities of the earth, now mingle their unconscious dust in the same mouldering column, without transmitting even the echo of their names to posterity.

NORTHERN EXPEDITION.

In a former number* we noticed an expedition fitted out by the British Government, and despatched on a voyage of discovery in the northern seas, to ascertain, if possible, the existence of a northwestern passage directly from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans, by passing through Beering's Straits or Davis's. Shortly after the publication of that number, intelligence was received in America of the return of the vessels sent on the expedition, without having accomplished their object. Speaking of their return, the Christian Observer remarks as follows.

Capt. Ross has lately returned in the Isabella, with his companion the Alexander sloop, Lieutenant Parry, after a fruitless attempt to penetrate through Beering's Straits, past the American continent. Captain Ross almost reached the latitude of 78°, traversed the whole of Davis's Straits, and found inhabitants, but could not discover the smallest opening sufficient to admit the entrance of a ship. Science has, however, derived some advantage; as Capt. Ross has been enabled to trace the line of coast with greater accuracy, and to alter the positions which had been assigned to it in all the charts. There now only remains to be discovered a few degrees to the northward of the Repulse Bay of Middleton; which might be done in one season, from the northernmost station of the Hudson's Bay Company. The attempt has led to the discovery of a new people. In lat. 76, 30, the party met with a new race of Esquimeaux, who, by their astonishment, appeared

* See vol. xiv, p. 503.

never to have seen a ship before. At first they were much afraid, and made signs for the vessels to fly away, thinking that they were huge birds of prey, that had descended from the moon to destroy them. A few of the natives, however, were soon enticed on board, when they expressed their awo and wonder by clinging to the masts, and other extravagant manifestations of imploration, as if to superior beings; at other times, on attentively surveying the ships, they laughed immoderately. They were entirely unintelligible to the Esquimeaux whom Capt. Ross took out with him, although they seem to be of the same origin, their physiognomy being similar, but of rather a darker complexion; in their general appearance, language and manners, approaching nearer to the natives of Kamtschatka, or the northeastern extremity of Asia. Their mode of travelling, is on sledges drawn by dogs, and some of them were seen in this way going northward. They were in possession of knives, which it was conjectured they must have formed from the iron in its natural state. The weapons they use for killing the smaller species of whales, were the horns of the sca horse or unicorn.

FOREIGN MISSION SCHOOL.

The following paragraphs are extracted from a letter written by a gentleman, who was present at the late examination of the Foreign Mission School, and addressed to the Corresponding Secretary of the Board.

"ATTENDED the monthly concert on Monday evening at Cornwall. The next day I attended the examination of the school, which was highly interesting. It was coructed very ably by the Principal, in presence of the Agents. The students acquitted themselves well, in the various branches to which they had applied themselves. I felt particularly interested in the examination of Adin Gibbs, and Thomas Hopoo in Theology; and of G. P. Tamoree in Navigation and Astronomy. Tamoree has calculated and projected a lunar eclipse, which is to be visible at Atooi in Sept. 1820. On Wednesday, I attended with increasing interest and satisfaction their semi-annual exhibition, preceded by a sermon from Dr. Chapin, and accompanied with appropriate music. One of the hymns sung was entitled, "The Fall of idols in Otaheite." Most of the members of the school gave a specimen of their talents and improvement in speaking, which far exceeded my expectations.

I could not but be filled with admiration, and I trust, with gratitude to God, to see these youths, the sons of the forest, and of pagan isles, appearing on a public stage, in the bosom of a Christian land, with as much propriety as students in a College; and thus giving the church a pledge of their future activity and usefulness.

Several of them spoke only in their native language. Others both in their native language and in English. Hopoo pronounced a part of the first chapter of Genesis in Hebrew, and subjoined remarks prepared by Mr. Daggett; Ridge, Pope's Messiah; Tamoree, a part of a sermon entitled: "Great effects from little causes," with good effect; Mr. Ely, an account of Owhyhee: Adin Gibbs and Mr. Ruggles divided between them the speech of Mr. Evarts, which answers so ably the hackneyed objections to missions, and urges to prompt and vigorous exertion to publish the Gospel through the world. This coincided well with the sermon, which was founded on the delightful passage, “Fear not: for behold, I bring you glad tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.”

We are authorized to add, that gentlemen of the first respectability, a considerable number of whom were present, expressed their pleasure in the highest terms of approbation.

INSTALLATION.

On the 21st ult. the Rev. Elias Cornelius was installed as Associate Pastor over the Tabernacle Church and Society in Salem. The introductory prayer was offered by the Rev. Mr. Codman, of Dorchester; the sermon was preached by the Rev. Lyman Beecher, D. D. of Litchfield, (Con. ) the consecrating prayer was made by the Rev. Mr. Smith, of Wenham; the charge was given by the Rev. Dr. Worcester, the Senior Associate Pastor; the right hand of fellowship was presented by the Rev. Mr. Emerson, of Salem; and the concluding prayer was made by the Rev. Mr. Blatchford, of Salem.

The sermon contained some important discussions, particularly valuable to our churches at this interesting period; and, as the result of much thought, and the production of an original, active, and powerful mind, was calculated to sustain the high reputation of the preacher. The other exercises were impressive and appropriate; the sacred music of a large choir was excellent; and the whole solemnities left a deep and salutary impression on the minds of a vast assembly.

The occasion forms a new era in the religious history of our country. It arose from the fact that the services and the talents of the Senior Pastor were so strongly demanded for the cause of missions, and it seemed to be so evidently his duty to devote a large part of his time to sending the Gospel among the heathen, as an organ of the Am. Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, that his pastoral labors were necessarily alleviated, and the spiritual necessities of an affectionate church and people supplied, by resorting to the aid of a colleague. To the church and people many thanks are due from the friends of missions for their disposition to make a sacrifice to the general cause of Christ, by relinquishing a large portion of the labors of their beloved Pastor; and many prayers will be offered, that they may always rejoice in this act of enlarged public spirit, and that blessings of the most precious kind may be poured out upon them from on high. We cannot but receive the harmonious settlement of a colleague, as an earnest of many good things to come.

NEW PUBLICATIONS.

Sermons preached in the Tron Church, Glasgow, by Thomas Chalmers, D. D. Minister of the Tron Church, Glasgow. New-York: Kirk & Mercein. pp. 375. 1819.

"Nott's Testimony in favor of Judson" Examined: in a Letter addressed to Rev. Samuel Nott, Jun. Late Missionary to India. By Enoch Pond, A. M. Pastor of the Congregational Church in Ward, Mass. Boston: Samuel T. Armstrong pp. 12. 1819.

A Sermon delivered at the Ordination of the Rev. Jared Sparks, to the pastoral care of the First Independent Church in Baltimore, May 5, 1819. By William Ellery Channing, Minister of the Church of Christ, in Federal Street, Boston. Baltimore: Edes. 8vo. 1819. Letters to the Rev. William E. Channing, containing remarks on his Sermon, recently preached and published at Baltimore. By Moses Stuart, Associate Professor of Sacred Lit. erature in the Theological Seminary, Andover. Andover: Flagg & Gould. pp. 165. 1819. A statement of the proceedings in the first Church and Parish in Dedham, respecting the settlement of a Minister, 1818. With some considerations on Congregational Church Polity. By a member of the said Church and Parish, at the request of a multitude within and without. Cambridge: Hilliard & Metcalf. pp. 102. 1819.

A Sermon, delivered at the Old South Church, Boston, June 7, 1819, on the evening previous to the sailing of the Rev. Miron Winslow, Levi Spaulding, and Henry Woodward, and Dr. John Sendder, as Missionaries to Ceylon. By Miron Winslow, A. M. Andover: Flagg & Gould. pp. 22. 1819.

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

An inquirer asks, whether the application of the word reverend to the clergy can be justi Bed? He intimates that this title belongs exclusively to the Deity; and that many Christians are offended, when they see so saered a term used so frequently as a distinction to a particular class of men.

Now

We presume the only passage of Scripture, which is relied on to prove, that the word reverend ought to be applied to the Deity alone, is Psalm exi, 9. He sent redemption unto his people: he hath commanded his coveliant forever: holy and reverend is has name. it is very obvious, that if this text proves the word reverend to belong exclusively to the Deity, it proves the word holy to possess the same character: but the word holy is applied to men in numerous texts of Scripture. The passage only asserts, that the name of God is holy and to be held in affectionate veneration. The use of the word reverend by our translators no more separates it from the common language of mankind, than it terbie's the use of any other word of a simil, r meaning.

THE

MISSIONARY HERALD.

No. 8.

AUGUST, 1819.

RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE.

SURVEY OF PROTESTANT MISSIONARY STATIONS.

[Abridged from the (London) Missionary Register.]
(Continued from p. 274.)

NORTHERN ASIA.

VOL. XV.

[1765.] The United Brethren, have a mission at Sarepta, in Russian Tartary, near Czaritzen on the Wolga. In the list for 1818, it was stated that the brethren Schill and Huebner were sent among the Calmucks of the "Torgutsk tribe, who inhabit the steppe near Astrachan. The brethren were encouraged to make this attempt by a grant of 300/. from the London Missionary Society. That Society has since granted an additional 100%. Copies of St. Matthew's Gospel have been furnished by the missionaries at Astrachan.

In the province of Irkutsk, in Siberia, near lake Baikal, there are many tribes of Burats, eleven of which are named Chorin Burats, and amount to 21,000 persons; all of the religion of the Lamas. There are many other tribes of Burats in the province, each having its prince, and called Shamans, that is, devotees to the ancient pagan superstitions of Siberia. They have no priests; but the greatest number have sorcerers, or Shamans. Two Burat nobles, Nomtee, and Badma, chiefs of tribes, appear to have received the Gospel with simplicity, on the occasion of their being employed to translate it into their own tongue. They are now at St. Petersburg, under the instruction of the Rev. I. J. Scmidt, a minister of the United Brethren. This, it is hoped, will encourage the attempt of a mission among these people.

THIBET.

We have taken Thibet as a separate division in this Survey, rather in the prospect of what it is likely hereafter to become, than from its present importance in the history of missions. If a firm footing should be gained for Christianity in this country, it will give access into Chinese Tartary, and into China itself, not at present enjoyed. And there are more indications of an ultimate Christian influence on Thibet, than have been before known. No station is, indeed, as yet obtained in the country itself; but as the Church Missionary Society has an intelligent missionary occupied in parsuits referring solely to the good of Thibet, we have placed his station under this head, though only on the borders of the country.

[1816] TITALYA, in the northern part of Rungpore, on the borders towards Nepaul. Church Missionary Society. Missionary: Fred. Christian Gotthelf Schroeter. He arrived on the 29th of October, 1816. From the first report of the Calcutta Committee of the Society, the passage is extracted which relates to him. "The Rev. Mr. Schroeter continues to prosecute his Thibet studies, with the ultimate view of laboring as a translator of the Scriptures. He possesses peculiar talents for this work; which, though it removes him for a season from laboring directly as a missionary to the heathen, must be reckoned in these eventful times, (when the Gospel is with unparalleled rapidity pervading the world,) among the most important branches of ministerial usefulness. Mr. Schroeter enjoys advantages for acquiring the Thibet language at Titalya, which it would be extremely difficult to obtain elsewhere, and is not at present dependant on the funds of the Society."

The last sentence is explained by the fact, that the government has assigned a stipend to Mr. S. while he is prosecuting the translation of the Scriptures into the Thibet language.

VOL. XV.

46

CHINA.

This great empire, the most remarkable upon earth, for the extent of its population, and the singularity of its manners, has been for many years the seat of Roman Catholic missions. It is said, indeed, that the light of the Gospel penetrated into this empire, particularly into its northern parts, as early as the Seventh century. In the 14th century, missionaries, who had been sent thither by the Roman Pontiffs in the century preceding, established a number of Christian churches. In the 16th and 17th centuries, when the church of Rome made such vigorous efforts to repair by accessions from the heathen the losses she had sustained by the Reformation, China, and the countries connected with it by affinity of manners and language, became to her "missionaries and their constituents," to use the words of Mosheim, "an object worthy of their pious zeal and ghostly ambition." The different orders of the Romish church, accordingly, crowded to these parts. The Jesuits, however, took the lead; and by their sagacity, intelligence, and zeal, obtained almost unbounded influence in the empire. Multitudes assumed the profession of Christianity; but it was a Christianity half pagan; for the Jesuits, in order to triumph over the prejudices of the people, allowed their converts to retain the profane customs and absurd rites of their pagan ancestors. In the beginning of the 17th century Christianity was extirpated from Japan; and the most vigorous exclusion of it from those islands is enforced to this day. The state of the Romish missions in China has long been very precarious. We sometimes hear of their great success; and at others, of bitter persecutions, said to have been endured with a constancy, which would bespeak the powerful influence of religion on the sufferers; but the reports are so uncertain, that little distinct information can be obtained from them.

Protestant Christians have, of late years, awakened to the magnitude of this sphere of labor; and while the jealousy and vanity of a fifth, at least, if not a fourth of the human race, shut out Christians with contempt from free intercourse with their countries, these Christians have begun to avail themselves of a language spoken and written by this immense portion of mankind, in order to diffuse among them those silent, but irresistible missionaries,-THE LIVELY ORACLES OF GOD. A language the most singular upon earth in its construction, and so difficult, that any knowledge of it was limited among Europeans to the curiosity of a few learned men, and to the imperious necessities of commercial intercourse-this language has been conquered by the zeal of Christian missionaries, and is now rendered tributary to the service of their Heavenly Master.

In this learned and arduous labor the Baptist Missionary Society, and the London Missionary Society, are actively engaged. Dr. Marshman, and his coadjutors at Serampore, and Dr. Morrison at Canton, with his able fellow laborer, Mr. Milne, at Malacca, are bringing China and Europe into a more strict and noble union, than could ever be accomplished by commercial_negociations or political embassies. Nearly 2000 copies of the Chinese New Testament have been put into circulation, and the translation of the Old Testament has been long completed with the advantage, for the first time, of metallic moveable characters, which both reduce very greatly the usual size of books in the language, and admit of the printing being on both sides of the paper.

[1807.] CANTON. London Missionary Society. Missionary: Robert Morrison, D. D.

Various and fresh difficulties have arisen in this mission. Editions of the New Testament, which has been several years in circulation. are therefore going on at Malacca, the printing at Canton having been impeded. Mr. Milne has in the press 8000 copies in 12mo. and 1500 in 8vo.

Since Dr. Morrison's return from Pekin, to which place he accompanied the British Embassy, as one of the interpreters, he has resumed the work of translation, and is proceeding with the Old Testament. He expected that by the united labor of himself and Mr. Milne, it would be completed in the course of the last year.

He had also translated the Liturgy, and was printing it, together with the Psalter.

Dr. Morrison is likewise proceeding with his Dictionary of the Chinese language, three parts of which are come to hand, and are now on sale. This work is printed at the expense of the East India Company. Of 750 copies, they give